Elisha d



(No Model.)

' E. D. EAMES.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE ADJUSTER. v V x No. 410,079. Patented Aug. 27 1889.

mu mm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELISHA D. EAMES, OF WATERTOWN, NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE-ADJUSTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,079, dated August 27, 1889.

Application filed January 5, 1889. {Serial No. 295,543. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELISHA D. EAMES, of Watertown, in the county of Jefferson and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Automatic Brake-Adj usters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, andto the letters of reference marked thereon.

The object of this invention is to preserve automatically the adjustment of the brakeshoes to the normal or predetermined disand the original distance between the shoes and the wheels existing when brakes are off reestablished. Various devices for effecting such a result have been projected, some of which have attained a greater or lesser degree of success.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation of a pair of car-wheels with their brakes and appendages, showing the application thereto of my invention. Fig. 2 is a detached perspective view, upon an enlarged scale, of the parts entering chiefly into the invention. Figs. 3 and 4e are modifications.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in the respective figures.

A A show parts of the truck-frame, and B B the car-wheels.

C C are the brake-beams, suspended. by links 0 to the truck-frame.

D D represent the brake-levers, and E is a brake-rod uniting them.

F is a rod connecting the upper end of the brake-lever D to the diaphragm, piston,.

winding-staff, or other agent for the application of power.

All of said parts and devices maybe of any ordinary or approved construction.

The lower end of the brake-lever D 1s pivoted to the lower brake-rod E, the lever carrying the brake-beam C in the ordinary manner. The other lever D, which carries the brake-beam O, is pivoted to the upper part of a shackle G, preferably forked to receive the end of the lever. The shackle G may be varied in construction, but as here shown is provided with upper and lower surfaces at a,

rod E, as shown in Fig. 2.

and when in its normal position is slightly tilted, so as tobear upon and bind the brake- In cross-section the bearing-surfaces cm are of the same shape as that of the brake-rod in cross-section, whether lozenge-shaped, square, round, fiat, or otherwise formed. In Figs. 1 and 2 the brake-rod is shown lozenge-shaped in cross-section, while in Figs. 3 and iit is square and round, respectively. nect-ed, by means of a link or rod H, to a second shackle G, which may be a duplicate of the shackle G. The shackle G like that G, is shaped in cross-section to conform to the shape of the brake-rod E. The connection between the brake-lever D and the link or rod H admits of a certain movement of the brake-lever without action upon the shackle G. This free movementis shown asprovided by slotting the link or rod, as at c, and furnishing the brake-lever with a fixed pin 0. The object is to allow afree movement of the brake-lever without acting upon the shackle G equal to the distance required to exist between the brake-shoes and the wheels when brakes are off.

The operation is as follows: The distance which the brake-shoes are designed to move in setting the brakes is, as has been stated, the distance which the brake-lever D is free to move, by reason of the slotted connection, without acting upon the shackle G. It is therefore seen that so long asthe brake-shoes, they having been properly adjusted, are unworn the lever D will in the act of setting brakes move only a distance equal to that provided by the slotted connection, in which case the link or rod 1-1 will not be moved, and the shackle G will in consequence remain stationary upon the brake-rod E; but, wear of the shoes having occurred, in order to bring the shoes up to the wheels, a greater movement of the lever D becomes necessary, and this will cause the link or rod H to be pushed forward and the shackle G to slide upon the brake-rod E. When the brakes are released and the lever D returns to the position it occupies when brakes are off, it will carry the link or rod II back with it, and in .this return movement the shackle G will be tilted and frictionally engage the brake-rod E, while the shackle G will be,

The brake-lever D is coni loo brought to a vertical position, releasing the is directly connected, combined with asecond brake-rod from its frictional grip, the result oscillating and binding shackle and with a being to cause said rod to move forward with link or rod uniting, by means of a slotted the lever, thus taking up the slack and reconnection, the brake-lever with the said sec- 15 5 storing the distance which normally existed ond shackle, substantially as set forth.

between the shoes and the Wheels. Thus it In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto setmy is seen that the action is entirely automatic. hand and seal.

Having described my invention, I claim- ELISHA D. EAMES. [L. 8.] In a brake mechanism, a brake-lever, a Witnesses: 1o brake-rod, and an oscillating and binding E. ORUSE,

shackle to which the short arm of said lever C. B. THOMPSON. 

